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Dubai Sports City is gearing up as it prepares to host to this weekend the HBL Pakistan Super League at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the third successive year.
The seminal sporting event will see six of the best teams from the world of Pakistani cricket battle it out for supremacy at this world-class venue in bid to take home the coveted PSL Trophy.
In addition to defending champions Peshawar Zalmi (captained by Darren Sammy), the series includes regulars Lahore Qalandars, Karachi Kings, Islamabad United, and Quetta Gladiators. Joining the series for the first time will be the Multan Sultans, led by their new captain Shoaib Malik.
The spectators are guaranteed to catch their favourite star players in actions, as the 2018 tournament includes Brendon McCullum, Darren Sammy, Shahid Afridi, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Misbah ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kevin Peterson, Mohammed Amir, Hassan Ali, and Kieron Pollard.
They will all be fighting for the chance to win a range of beautifully designed trophies by Swarovski that include the Championship Trophy, Player of the Tournament, Best Player on the Field, Best Bowler of the Tournament, Best Batsman of the Tournament, the Safest Hand Award, as well as the Spirit of the Tournament Award.
The trophy was unveiled yesterday at Dubai International Stadium after it was delivered by helicopter to defending captain Darren Sammy of Peshawar Zalmi, who arrived with the five other team captains in an Uber Limousine, flanked by two Tesla vehicles.
As preparations are finalised for the tournament, Dubai Sports City's own ICC Academy has welcomed all the teams daily to train in their gym facilities and on their grounds, either in their own personal training sessions, in intra-team matches, or in practice matches with other teams.
Will Kitchen, ICC Academy General Manager said: "Every team has engaged in intensive training and preparation at ICC Academy this week including time in the nets, outfield and a number of practice games. The six franchises now mean than 11 professional teams have now chosen to use ICC Academy as their preferred training venue so far in 2018, confirming the Dubai Sports City location as the most popular elite training venue on the globe, and over 200 different professional teams have made use of the venue since its inception in 2009.
"The wickets the teams have prepared on are the same as those they will play at DIS, enabling them to simulate the same conditions they will compete in at the Ring of Fire."
Work is also underway to maintain the pitch over at the Dubai International Stadium, where workers have been tasked to service the grass and wicket to the utmost standards of perfection for such a high-class tournament.
Dubai Sports City's Head Curator for the ICCA and Cricket Stadium Mr. Toby Lumsden had this to say about his work "Pitch preparation and planning has been going on for weeks. Given the scheduling of games and the requirements, we are happy with how things are going. As for the practice pitches, they have been maintained consistently with good match practice on oval 1. We have accommodated all training requests, even with last minute changes."
The opening ceremony of the event commences at 6pm on Thursday the 22nd, and will feature performances by Jason Derulo, Ali Zafar, Abida Praveen, Shehzad Roy, and the Sachal Performance Orchestra, with organisers promising some additional surprise entertainment elements.
The ceremony will raise the curtain on the first match of the tournament between defending champions Peshawar Zalmi and Multan Sultans, taking place between 9pm to 12:30am.
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